Okay, now Dawkins is just lying.
1. Human memory works perfectly well in ORAL tradition cultures.
2. There is no such ‘Chinese Whispers’ effect.
1. Human memory works perfectly well in ORAL tradition cultures.
2. There is no such ‘Chinese Whispers’ effect.
‘Chinese Whispers’ only works BECAUSE you (a) WHISPER the thing and (b) only say it ONCE.
If I drill something into you over and over and over and over, you’ll repeat it accurately.
Example: I memorized Coleridge’s Kubla Khan over 20 years ago.
I repeated it yesterday, here on Twitter, from memory, with only a few trivial mistakes, e.g. a “this” for “an” and such.
I repeated it yesterday, here on Twitter, from memory, with only a few trivial mistakes, e.g. a “this” for “an” and such.
And I would not have made ANY mistakes if I had practiced it daily.
Which, had I held it to be SACRED, I would have.
Even so, I went through it and corrected my own minor errors to do better next time. 😁
And that’s only because I LIKE IT.
And that’s only because I LIKE IT.
So imagine a not-a-game version of ‘Chinese Whispers’.
We have 100 people, and I tell 10 of them “Black swans were discovered in Australia.” I have all 10 of them repeat it back to me and to each other. Then they tell the next 10, then the next 10.
Odds it gets to the end? 100%
We have 100 people, and I tell 10 of them “Black swans were discovered in Australia.” I have all 10 of them repeat it back to me and to each other. Then they tell the next 10, then the next 10.
Odds it gets to the end? 100%
